Brussels, 21 January 2021 – EuroRAP announces the official launch of 20 National Programmes, a major milestone in the ongoing cooperation between Civil Society, Mobility clubs, Universities/Research institutes and National Road Authorities to support the implementation of the National Road Safety Action plan. 

The EuroRAP National Programme Leaders will work towards the implementation of both the United Nations and European Commission goals on road safety and especially supporting road authorities in the reporting requirements of the Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management.

Ferry Smith, EuroRAP chairman said ‘’We would like to thank the key local stakeholders leading the Programme and their willingness to build technical capacity and ensure roads are upgraded as it constitutes an essential effort to save lives’’

20 EuroRAP National programme leaders have published a report with a set of concrete recommendations to the European Member States and the European Commission emphasising on the need of establishing a ‘’Network -wide Road Assessment programme’’ within the framework  of a National Road Safety Action plan.  The report can be found HERE.

EuroRAP has already supported road safety assessments in 40 European countries inside and outside the EU based on globally recognised methods. More than 170,000 kms of road has been Star Rated for in-built safety. Crash Rate Risk Mapping carried out on more than 1,3 million km with important tracking of progress over time in improving safety made possible.  Roads of all types have been assessed including roads on the TEN-T network and primary and regional networks. More than 4,275 people have been trained and in excess of 25 billion euro of investment has been shaped to drive infrastructure upgrades that save lives.  Those assessments have either been performed by the EuroRAP national programme leads as national initiatives or within European Commission projects (SENSOR, RADAR, SLAIN).

In 2009, EuroRAP received a Prince Michael International Road Safety award for establishing iRAP as a global umbrella for road assessment during the first inter-Ministerial meetings on road safety in Moscow. The Moscow meeting led to the UN Decade of Action 2011-2020. Today, as we reach the launch the 2nd UN decade of Action on Road Safety, iRAP is recognised as one of the successes of the UN’s global collaboration. iRAP (the International Road Assessment Programme) is the umbrella programme for Road Assessment Programmes (RAPs) that are working to save lives.  Worldwide, iRAP and its regional ‘X’RAP programmes, among which includes EuroRAP, are influencing the safety of large-scale investment. RAP programmes and projects have now been undertaken by partners in more than 100 countries worldwide covering Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

About EuroRAP
The European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international not for profit association set up in 1999 and registered in Belgium that is dedicated to saving lives through safer roads. The programme aims to reduce death and serious injury through a programme of systematic assessment of risk, identifying the major shortcomings that can be addressed by practical road improvement measures. It forges partnerships between those responsible for a safe road system – civil society, mobility clubs, research institutes and road authorities – and aims to ensure that assessment of risk lies at the heart of strategic decisions on route improvements, crash protection and standards of route management.  EuroRAP helps enable implementation of both the United Nations Sustainability Goals 3-4 on road safety relating to infrastructure safety. It supports European Commission goals on road safety and Directive 2008/96/EC on road infrastructure safety management.
visit www.eurorap.org

For more information, please contact:
Lina Konstantinopoulou, Secretary General lina.konstantinopoulou@eurorap.org